Monty Oum, Web-Series Animator, Dies at 33

By Daniel E. Slotnik

Feb. 3, 2015

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Monty OumCreditCreditBrian Huynh

Monty Oum, the creator of the animated web series “RWBY” and director of animation for Rooster Teeth Productions, a company best known for repurposing the bloodthirsty avatars in the Halo video games into angst-ridden slackers in the popular web series “Red vs. Blue,” died on Sunday near his home in Austin, Tex. He was 33.

Mr. Oum fell into a coma after experiencing an allergic reaction during a medical procedure several days ago and never recovered, a statement on Rooster Teeth’s website said.

Mr. Oum, who often appeared in flashy costumes that made him look like an anime character, enjoyed surprising fame in a profession in which many remain anonymous. News of his death became a major trending topic on Google and Facebook.

Mr. Oum left a job as a game designer for Namco Bandai in 2009 to join Rooster Teeth, where he choreographed action sequences reminiscent of Ang Lee for the eighth, ninth and 10th seasons of “Red vs. Blue.” But instead of acrobatic actors, he directed legions of pixelated soldiers from Microsoft’s Halo games, versions of which are available for Xbox consoles.

“Red vs. Blue” is perhaps the most popular example of “machinima,” an online video genre that uses characters and elements of video games. (The name is a combination of “machine” and “cinema.”) The show features different-colored versions of the game’s armored protagonists, often bickering rather than slaughtering one another.

Writing in The New York Times Magazine in 2005, the technology journalist Clive Thompson called the show “a sort of sci-fi version of ‘M*A*S*H.’ ”

“Red vs. Blue” episodes posted on YouTube typically garner at least one million views. Rooster Teeth’s YouTube channel has more than eight million followers.

More recently, Mr. Oum created and directed the first two seasons of “RWBY” (pronounced ruby), an action series with an anime look and fairy-tale elements. By his account, he was inspired more by modern dance than by martial arts.

“I’ve always considered myself more a dancer than a fighter,” he wrote in a post on Rooster Teeth’s website. “And when I choreograph a sequence, rhythm plays a big part.”

Monty Oum (rhymes with home) was born on June 22, 1981, in Rhode Island. He first came to the attention of Burnie Burns, Rooster Teeth’s founder, through a video he made in 2007 called “Haloid.” The video depicts an intense fight in which a soldier from Halo fights the protagonist from the Nintendo game series Metroid before they join forces against swarms of aliens.

The video caused a buzz in the gaming industry, and Mr. Oum joined Namco Bandai, where he worked on the video game Afro Samurai, an adaptation of a cartoon on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s nightly grown-up animated programming block.

Mr. Oum, who described himself as “Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese” on Twitter, is survived by his wife, Sheena; his father, Mony; four brothers, Woody, Sey, Chivy and Neat; and two sisters, Thea and Theary, Rooster Teeth said.

A third season of “RWBY” is planned. Rooster Teeth says it is also developing a game based on the show.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B17 of the New York edition with the headline: Monty Oum, Web-Series Animator, 33. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe